![[Masthead]](http://www.lemarssentinel.com/images/nameplate.png)
RSS
Print
Email link
Respond to editor
Post comment
 (Sentinel photo by Renee Nyhof) [Click to enlarge] |
That's the goal for each eighth grader in Le Mars due to the State of Iowa mandate that all schools must have a career plan in place.
To fulfill this mandate, the state requires Le Mars Community Middle School (LCMS) to implement a web-based program called IHaveaPlanIowa.gov to aid eighth grade students in their career planning for high school and beyond.
LCMS began using the program last year but this year Jason Martin, LCMS guidance counselor, is discovering the program's true potential.
"The 'I Have a Plan Iowa' program has six steps that show students anything and everything about a job; it's right there at a click," said Jason Martin, LCMS guidance counselor.
The six steps include:
*a survey of tasks, such as working with animals, which each student has to decide if they're interested in doing or not.
*a career cluster survey, which group jobs together based on the students' interests.
Once each survey is complete, the students can explore the educational requirements needed to reach the jobs they chose.
Based on those requirements, students create a four-year plan that spells out their high school courses.
"The class schedule doesn't always match up with what we offer at the high school, but we make it fit as much as possible," Martin said.
Finally, each student is required to review their results with a parent (or counselor) to encourage parent involvement in each student's planning.
"The program really provides more information than they'll ever use," Martin said. "But the kids are responding well to the program. The kids enjoy looking through the information that tells them what career matches their interests, shows education level needed, earnings for the job and availability."
Eighth grader, Kennedy Rolfes, likes the program because it helped show her all the options for a career in health science, one she believes sounds right for her.
"I want to be a pediatrician because I like kids," Rolfes said.
With stories like Rolfes, the question of whether or not introducing this career-oriented program has not been an issue.
"Students can start working at age 14 so I believe this is the right age to introduce this program," Martin said.
That is also why, along with the six-step program, Martin teaches the students how to fill out an application.
"We want to teach the students to know what it takes to get a job, to keep it and about how to handle getting fired if the situation arises," Martin said.
The Gehlen Catholic School counselor has also seen the benefits of using the "I have a plan Iowa" program.
Richard Seivert, counselor for grades seven through 12, said the Gehlen is required to have a career plan program as well but, unlike LCMS, they're not required to use IHaveaPlanIowa.gov.
However, he's been using it for almost five years.
Seivert said he previously used other programs but said those programs weren't as extensive as the Iowa program.
"This is an extremely extensive program for parents, educators, students; It's a wonderful tool for planning for the future for all levels because it is has everything they all need to know about jobs, skills, colleges," Seivert said.
The 'I Have a Plan" program meets the school's belief in "self-fulfilling prophecy,"
which is a prediction, which results in behavior that will make the prediction come true, explained Seivert said.
"Anytime a goal is introduced, students have a higher tendency to go for it," Seivert said. "It works in sports. That's what this program does. It really helps students create a focus for their future."
That's the true value of the program, according to Seivert.
"Normally it's an expensive program but we've been able to keep funding for it," Seivert said." "I hope the state can continue to keep it affordable."